A/HRC/16/55 strong and explicit legislation to combat violence; and accessible, child-sensitive counselling, and complaints and investigation mechanisms to address sexual violence and to provide redress and assistance to victims. In all regions, significant experiences led her to conclude that there is a widely shared commitment to build a strong protective environment for children, an environment where violence and sexual violence had no place. 10. The Director of the Kenya Alliance for the Advancement of Children, Tim Ekesa, in his presentation on sexual violence in schools, said that although schools should be particularly safe places for children, teachers have been often found to engage in sexual violence against boys and girls, including pressuring children to engage in sexual activities or indecent exposure. The slow pace of implementation of legislation protecting children, slow judicial processes and the often insignificant penalties for perpetrators of sexual violence in schools led to the escalation of such cases, adding that the effects of sexual violence against children included depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. 11. Empowering boys and girls in schools and educational facilities through child-led movements and with information on their rights and responsibilities have proven to be valuable mechanisms of defence against sexual violence as they enabled open communication and active participation. The Kenya Alliance for Advancement of Children called upon Government ministries responsible for education and children’s affairs, childfocused non-governmental organizations, as well as teachers’ unions and service commissions to set checks and balances on offenders and to ensure that offenders are subjected to stronger penalties. 12. The Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, Manfred Nowak, highlighted that more than one million children around the world are deprived of their liberty. They are likely to be subjected to abuse not only by police and correctional officers but also by fellow detainees. He highlighted that children are more vulnerable to abuse if they are detained in the same facilities or particularly the same cells with adults; if girls are supervised by male staff; if they are detained in inhuman and degrading conditions of detention, including severe overcrowding; and if there is no or insufficient adequately trained staff in institutions and other detention facilities. He added that, frequently, sexual abuses go unreported due to fear or shame. Moreover, children often faced difficulties in accessing legal aid and services, including medical and forensic facilities, to secure evidence and substantiate their claims, depriving them of the possibility of accessing the justice system. 13. The Special Rapporteur warned that there was not always a distinction between placing children in need of protection and those facing judicial procedures. As a result, detention facilities may hold children in pretrial detention, victims of child trafficking or sexual exploitation, abandoned or homeless children, as well as children with mental disabilities. To prevent sexual and other types of violence against children, he recommended that States should elaborate a clear policy stating that sexual violence against detainees would not be tolerated; ensure that institutionalized care would only be used as a last resort; ensure that all children should be removed from adult detention facilities; and establish independent and effective complaints, monitoring and investigation mechanisms. 14. The representative of Save the Children, Ms. Karlsson, spoke of the particular vulnerability of the millions of children who are “on the move”. Yet, despite the large number of children involved, their needs and voices were largely absent in the discussions and debates on both child protection and human migration. These children, especially those moving alone, were highly vulnerable to exploitation, coercion, deception and violence, including sexual violence. However, as a result of their social status and discrimination, girls and boys face barriers when they tried to report violence. Children whose status is irregular because of migration face barriers in accessing education and healthcare services. 5